Oct

John Jay Evacuated Due to Fire

Hundreds of freshmen are stranded outside of John Jay tonight due to a fire-related incident. Multiple people Bwog talked to indicate that they saw smoke coming out of trash chutes and saw smoke in the hallways, even on the highest floors. A popular theory amongst the stranded is that someone threw something flammable or ignited down into the trash chutes.

There are firemen on the scene now, and there’s no word of when students will be allowed back in.

Update, 1:11am: They’ve been letting students back in for a while and the crowd has all but cleared. The security guard at the John Jay desk informed us that someone threw an object (he conjectured a cigarette or something of the like, as most students have) down the 7th floor chute, which fell to the 4th floor and caught on fire, causing sprinklers to go off. There is also no elevator service currently. We’ll keep you updated with any further major developments!

Update, 2:36am: A tipster that actually lives on JJ7 has informed us that students on the floor with a view of the trash chute before the fire did not see anyone dropping anything down there. While some of the 7th floor residents were studying, someone spotted smoke coming from the chute and opened its door. This caused more smoke to billow out, and this is possibly what eventually set off the fire alarm. The plot thickens!

the only reason the fire alarm went off on the seventh floor was because one of us walked past the chute, noticed there was smoke coming from the chute, and opened it. a lot of smoke came out of the chute and set off the alarm. fire didn't start on our floor. there are at least ten witnesses to this. don't blame us.

The only reason the fire alarm went off on the seventh floor was because one of us noticed smoke coming from the chute and opened the chute. The smoke ended up setting off the alarm three seconds later. JJ7 didn't start it.

It is almost definitely the fault of maintenance. Smoke from the chute suggests a compactor problem -- i.e. trash compactor was malfunctioning and caught fire or started smoking. That, or a malotov cock tail down the trash chute. And yes, I did say "cock tail." we ought to consider how weird or English language is from time to time.